Role and Company
Expertise
18 years experience in information technology
Location
Maywood, NJ
About Ron
I served 5 years active duty (1991 - 1995) in the United States Army. I was stationed at Fort Stewart, GA, Tokyo, Japan and Fort Ritchie, MD. I'm married to a Japanese national. Japan is an absolute gem for a country and I highly recommend a visit if a chance presents itself. Moving from the 24th Infantry Division to Tokyo was a true culture shock. I'm so fortunate have my 2nd family in Tokyo so I can visit every so often.
I remember not really having a lot of resources at the time I was transitioning out of the military. Many soldiers were getting out and then going right back in. My best advice came from a veteran at the unemployment office (I visited prior to actually get out of the military). He recommended to attend a trade school using combination of unemployment and GI Bill benefits. He also provided a few great options. I enrolled and completed a 6 month computer science \ technical support trade school. After graduating, the school provided job hunt assistance which was a huge plus. I can only speak for UPS, but they love prior service and I was scooped up in 1995 and have never looked back since. I currently work for UPS in Information Systems (IS). I have an extremely challenging role with UPS and love what I do.
I'm quite proud to have served this great country and hope I can help veterans transition from military to civilian life. It truly is an awkward transition, but I personally see a lot more resources out now to help.
Last piece of advice if reading this is simple... Keep looking forward. I know many veterans keep looking back at the good old days. It serves you absolutely no value. Look at your life in 1-5-10 year increments and create and execute a strategy that is manageable.